Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba.com, wants to turn his
China-based company into one of the globe's biggest Web
sites-and users are flocking to what he styles a "global B2B
e-marketplace." Alibaba is a sprawling cyber flea market where
businesses can put their merchandise up for sale and perhaps find
buyers-from Argentina to Vietnam. A casual surf through the site
turns up a mind-boggling collection of offers from manufacturers of
children's toys, food, auto parts and even "excess
inventory" (a grab bag of deals). The site is designed for
easy searching-it will show only buyers or only sellers, and can
also be toggled to display offers from the countries you choose.
Want to post your own stuff for sale? At press time, postings were
still free, as was membership at Alibaba.